Fire control system



Sept. 15, 1959 w. K. MANN 7 2,903,945 FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM Y Filed Sept. 5, 1956 ,4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Snventor I (Ittorneg Sept. 15, 1959 w. K. MANN 2,993,945

FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM I Filed Sept. 5, 1.95s 4 Sheets-Sheet? INVENTOR WITNESSES 71/ g? .MCl'H T4 W W'fiZRNEY Sept. 15, 1959 w. K. MANN 2,903,945

' FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Sept. 5, 1956 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 w. K. MANN FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM Fil'ed Sept. 5, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet .4

( mil-naggin- Uni d WCS Pa fQ 'i "coNTkoLs'YsTEM i V Mann; City, Kans, ki l l i ciltiiiii Sfl teiiiber 5, 1956, Serial No. B-f1-806 itclaim. -(.'c1. 89-41 i liii 'ent ionrelates to a ineehanism fo'rbperziting'a bhjeet f theinyeiition is the provision of a mechanism fofoiie'r' n ga gun Whichis Controlled by'th'e varin's -(if a sighting device in such a manner that h ghtihgflvic'e has heen alii1ed With'an object gp afiwmitinybe positioned in firing line with the object 15M118; ohjeetfof the invention is the *prdvis" her a "mechanism "automatically "controlling the pos of a r H e'thfer 'the sighting ism ed through vertical plairhrfa horizont tilanefthefnilfechanism for operating .theigfin'indudin g a plurality oifirjc'ziirnferent'ially afi-a'nged magnets are"prores'sively "p ed 'in rcuitfbya eommutator arrangement n the sighting deaf/1c H V U j wstiu uitne' objeet'ofthe invention is' the ension of 'amchzfnis'm'for'operating' a gun through vari0us'posi tions for'alining the gun an object in aceo ante the alil lfed orsin lil'anpdsitions 'dfhkfglitinigflyiee,

any arranged magnets, which are adajgited to he bro connected in circuit with similarly posi- "ti'oned 'lem ents "rcbmmmja ors, in which brushes directlfy f 'ected the sighting device are moved over "the se'gmfifsof commutators, the arrangement being such that the gun will folldvy the movements "of the g ii'e'viee'direetly o'riin reverse order. This imvemionlwiu be, bes understood from 'abohsid- (if 'thefollowing def edfi'esoriptioh, ivi'ew pa'ii yin'g drahr'ihg's forming a part thespecififca n; neverthelesgi t'is tobe understoodfth'at the ihv'ehtio i's "ot 'confined to the disclosure, 'heing'suseeptible of Eh ange's. nd modifications as defineno material de- 'pa 'ui-e from thesalien't ieatur'es of theinvention'agexiii-essed'in'the aiipended c'1aim. 1n the drawings: ,1 A H I 1 "a1 is a side View in elevation of'the'gun and gh fig devic cobpeiatively connected 'tbthr'idt'i- I1- 7 a i laa iif e same,

'aii' in inelu'dhig a plurality of series of ieireutn- 2 V 1 Fi ures an 'enlan ea fra'gnientaii'y yeft'ieal section taken aldngthe1inej5 5 of Figure3. 4 i Figu jeis a horizontal sfeetion takenuiong the line 6"'6 of Fig.5, showing the a'r'rangmeiit'of onesezi'es-of magnets and mat res. 4 V I fFi n" 6A "is horizontal se tion taken along t "e line 6A6A of"Fig, 5', showing a second seriesdfmagnts and immatures V .Figure 7 is fan enlarged fragmentary vertical Section taken'along'tlieline 7-'7of Figure '1. v v igure 8 is avie'w in 'elevatioh'showing the brushes "for the commutator. H

Figure 9 is aside Wiew in elevation of the brushes for a pair of commutators, V V t Figure 10 is a yerticai seeti'dn taken along the line '10l l'0 of Figure 3. V V Figure 11 is a Vertical section taken along the line 11; "1 1 of Fig. 4.

Figure 12 is 'a fragmentary enlarged vertical section showing'the magnets of the gun operating mechanism.

figure 13 is a'dia-gram showing circuits between the commutators 'andthe magnets. I

V Figur'jM a plan "view -offth'e combined sighting device and operating mechanism showing the va'ri'ohs ho ntal positions "of the tsightifi'gdevices and the car- 'Te'sponding positions of the gm. 7 v

'Figu're 15 a "fragmentary or exploded plan view 'shov' ing in section 'aj portion of the magnet cores taken "on th -1ine-6A 6Aof Figure 5 and, g a v figure 16 is a detail view of the igearjand pinion actuated'npoin the horizontal rotation of the sighting deyice seenin {looking downwaidly along the section an line l -6: 16 o f Fig. 4-. 1' j Referring more parti eularly to the drawings, 15 designates fa basefmemher upon 'Whiehis mounted a table for guh e'afriag 6 which is adapted to he revol'ved on a yei'tical axis as yvill be presently exblained. The carriage is provided with a piyotal mounting for a "gun 1 7. The EairriaQe-I'G consists of a base portion 18 from whichris'esp'aeed side Walls-19;, Intheseside Walls are formed hearingsifor the trnnnions Z0 horizontally disposed inEtheearriagefso'that the maybei'noyd at variousanglesin a'yertical plane.

It be noted ffo'm Figs. 1, 3 aild 5 that the'bbtt om por ion of the t zar'fiage has a *dowhwardly projeeting gear-"2 1 fee'e'iyedwithin an opening 22 in the base memher -15 atthe 'ce'n'ter'of the carriage. Thebase portion 18 of thetiirret is supported on the base member 15"by a series of ball bearings 23 mounted in circulartracksin the Base member 15 and base Portion 18.

Itis to 'be'noted that various elements whicha're a nece's'safy of ithe g'u'n mounting have hot been shown, since-they form no part of the present invention. Furthe' re, no pattieular rn'eans has been illustrated or clese'rib'e'dffor maintainingfthe' carriage against displacemen; from the baseine'mber 15, although 'various Wei-1 known constructions may be'ernploye'd for'the purpose.

A casing. 15 is secured at 26 to the underface o'f thehas'e i'neriiher This casing is circular in Figures 1 and 2 and containson its inner peripheny two series of magnet oores 2 7 and i8 integrally carried by the respectiye rings 24 and 24A which are insulated from thecontainer 25 as shown at29.

At the center of the casing 25 beneath the 'gun carriageis arranged a vertical shaft 30 located in alinem'ent with-the vertical axis of the said casing; Mounted on this shaft is a'pair of hubs-31 and 32, and the hubs are provided 'with pairs of arms 33-33A, '33B-33C, and 34--34A, 34B-34C, respectively. These hubs are keyed 3 r V to and insulated from shaft 30 as shown at 35 and 35A respectively. l

A gear 36 is secured to the upper end of the shaft 30 and is located within the opening 22 in the base member 15, and meshes with the gear 21 so that as the gear 36 is revolved in a manner to be presently explained, the gear 21 will be revolved to rotate the carriage 16 horizontally.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 5, 12 and 15, it will be seen that the magnet cores 27 and 28 are arranged circumferentially and are formed integrally with the respect rings 24 and 24A. Wires37 extend from coils 37A which surround the magnets and are connected to similarly positioned and positively charged segments of commutators which are enclosed within a housing 38 associated with a sighting mechanism generally designated by the letter S. Wires 40 also extend from the coils 37A to negatively charged contacts of the commutators.

Each pair of arms which serve as a motor armature to rotate the gun carriage horizontally is formed of a metal of high magnetic retentivity such as an aluminum, nickel, and cobalt alloy so that when the several magnet cores 27 are energized by a current passing through the surrounding field coils 37A the arms will be drawn in the direction of the energized magnets providing that a condition of opposite polarity exists between the armatures 33-33A, 33B33C and 3434A, 34B34C and the respective magnet cores 27 and 28. In other words, the arm will move towards a magnet when the flow of current through the coil 37A is in the proper direction and where one of the elements provides a north pole and the other element a south pole. On the other hand, when both the magnets and the armatures have the same polarity the armatures will be repelled by the magnets and thus be moved in the opposite direction. The pairs of armatures of both sets are insulated from each other so that the north and south poles will be at the opposite ends thereof.

In Fig. 6, the arm 33A is shown opposite the arm 33 but this pair of arms forms a single magnet so that when the arm 33A is adjacent a magnet core 28 of positive polarity the end of said arm will be a negative pole while the end of arm 33 will be positive and vice versa. This is also true of the permanent magnet 33B-34C. In like manner, the direction of the currents in the coils of magnet cores 27 and 28 will determine also the polarity of the permanent magnets or arms 34-34A and 34B34C.

From an inspection of Fig. it will be seen that each hub 31 or 32 carries the two pairs of arms forming two armatures or permanent magnets and each magnet is insulated from the other magnet in a pair as shown at 46. However, any number ofarmatures may be employed for the purpose. I

In Fig. 6A is shown the second hub 32 which has the four arms 34-34A, 34B34C forming a pair of armatures. The two armatures in each group are insulated from each other and also from the shaft 30 by the respective disk 46 and the sleeves 35A and 35. Wires 37 and 40 are connected between the coils of the respective magnet cores 27 and 28 and the similarly positioned contacts 64 and 65a of the respective pairs of commutators These commutators in connection with the armature 3333A, 33B33C and 34-34A, 34B34C control the horizontal movements of the gun 17.

Referring more particularly to Figures 7-9 inclusive, relating to the sighting mechanism, two pairs of commutators-C-C and their respectively associated arms are illustrated. A shaft 150 is mounted in the casing 38 and a ring 51 is secured to each end of the shaft but in- 400 with the negative side of a source of current 39 (Fig. 13).

A second ring 53 is secured to the center of the shaft .ment for that purpose.

4 150 and insulated therefrom. A brush 54 is insulated from and connected to the casing and this brush rides on the ring 53 and is connected to the positive side of the source or current 39 by a wire 37C.

Within the commutator C is hub 55 which is secured to the shaft 50 and insulated therefrom as shown at 56. Four brush carrying arms 57, 58, 59 and 60 are secured to the hub 55 on shaft 150, but these arms are insulated from each other as shown at 61. At the end of each arm is a brush 62, which is urged outward by a spring 63 and which is adapted to engage one of the commutator sections 64.

A second hub 66 of the commutator C, adjacent to the commutator C, is secured to the shaft 150 but insulated therefrom as shown at 67. Arms 68, 69, 70, and 71 radiate from the hub 66, and these arms are insulated from each other and from the shaft 150 in the same manner as are the arms 57 and 60 inclusive. In Fig. 8 the various arms connected to the two hubs 55 and 66 are shown in staggered relation for the purposes of illustration, but these arms may be alined or the arms on one hub may be slightly offset at an angle with respect to the other arms on the other hub as illustrated.

By staggering the arms 57 to 60 inclusive with respect to the arms 68 to 71, the brushes on the first group of arms will engage contacts 64 when the brushes of the second group are passing from one series of contacts to a succeeding series. Thus the circuits are maintained continuously.

One end of a wire 72 (Fig. 13) is secured to the ring 53 while the other end is secured to the arm 57 so that the arm 57 will carry a positive current. A wire 73 connects the ring 51 with the arm 68 so that said arm is negatively charged. A wire 74 is connected to arm and to ring 53 so that the arm 70 will be positively charged. On the other hand, a wire 74A is secured to arm 59 and to ring 51 so that the said arm will be negatively charged. The arm 58 will be positive while the opposite arm 60 will be negative. The arm 60 is connected by a wire 80 with the ring 51 as shown in Fig. 13.

.The arm 58 is connected to the arm 57 to provide for the positive pole through the wire 58A.

between the arms 70 and 71 also causes the arm 71 to be positive.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 14, it will be seen how the gun 17 is operated through a horizontal plane by a sighting device 75 which is carried by a bracket 76. The member 75 is in the form of a telescope normally used in gun sighting and has all the necessary equip- Since the equipment, however, does not form any part of the present invention, no further description will be given of the same.

The bracket 76 :(Figs. 1 and 4) which supports the telescope 75 has a base portion 77 which is mounted on a base member 15a and rotatably supported by ball bearings. A horizontal housing 38 encloses a shaft 150 which passes through the base member 1511 and is connected to a gear 80a mounted in an opening 81 formed in said base member. A second gear 82 meshes with the gear 80a and is secured to a projection 77a on the base 77 of the bracket 76 and the vertical axis of said gear is in line with the vertical axis of said bracket.

The casing 38 as shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 7 is suspended from the underface of the base member 15a by means of brackets 83. A master switch 85 is utilized for connecting the current source 39 to the control system.

It will be seen that when the sighting mechanism 75 is revolved in a horizontal plane by the operator, the bracket 76 will likewise be revolved as will be the shaft and the brushes of the commutator CFO, and when the switch 85 is closed, current will flow through the contacts 64 and "64a to the associated magnets which are directly connected with the similarly arranged contacts whereby the magnets will be energized for causing rotation'ofithe armatures33 and 34 for pointing the in accordance with the position of the telescope 75. jItis1to'be1borne in mind that bundles of wires 37 and 40 are :located in the cables 86' and 87 leading from the sig'htingdevice (Fig.1) and these wires connect the contacts 64a (Fig. 7), with the source of current 39 (Fig. 13) and with the coils 27 of the magnets in the casing 25. Wires 37 and 40 are connected with the contacts 64 and 64a in such a manner that said contacts through the various brushes of the commutators will provide the proper polarity of the magnets causing a pull on the armatures by virtue of the magnetism created by the flow of current from the source 39.

While a particular disclosure has been set for controlling the movement of the gun by the telescope 75 in a horizontal plane, a similar mechanism is employed for elevating or lowering the gun in accordance with similar movements in a vertical plane of the telescope 75. In other words, the casings 90 on the gun carriage contain a similar arrangement of field magnets which are energized by a pair of commutators, located in each casing 91, on the sighting instrument. The casings '91 are rigidly connected by arms 92 with the side walls of the bracket 76. These casings contain a pair of series of circumferentially arranged commutator sections or contacts 93 (Figs. 1 and 11) over which brushes 94 move, the latter being carried by arms 95. These arms in the respective casings are rigidly secured to a stub shaft 96, carrying pinions 97 (Fig. 11). These pinions mesh with gears 98 on the ends of shaft 99 mounted on the bracket 76, and carrying the telescope 75. The contacts 93 are connected with wires located in cables 100 (Fig. 1) which extend to the casings 90, and are splayed out to terminals of the magnets 102 so that they are magnetized from the current source 39 in unison with their selection upon the vertical movement of the telescope.

It will be appreciated that the motor armatures 103 are positioned similarly to the arms 95 carrying the brushes. The contacts 93 and the field magnets 102 are connected together by wires so that the contacts will bear the same angular relation in the casing 91 as do the magnets 102 in the casing 90. As appears in Fig. 3, it will be seen that there are a pair of series of field magnets located within the two housings 90 at each side of the gun 17, and the arrangement of these magnets and their armatures is identical with that shown in the casing 25. Again the commutators mounted in the casings 91 at each side of the telescope 75 are arranged in pairs in the same manner as are the commutators enclosed within the housing 38. V

The armatures 103 (Fig. 1) are connected to a stub shaft 110 (Fig. in each housing 90 and on the inner end of each of these shafts is connected a pinion 111 meshing with a gear 112. The latter are mounted on the ends of the trunnions 20 carrying the gun 17, so that any rotation of the armature 103 will cause rotation of said gears to efiect the elevation or depression of the gun.

Thus movements of the telescope 75 in a vertical plane will cause similar movements of the gun 17 because when the magnets 102 are energized the armatures 103 will be moved accordingly so that the gun 17 follows the vertical movements of the telescope 75.

While we have illustrated permanent magnets in the armatures, electro magnets may be used if desired.

When the gun is being sighted on stationary objects, the necessary corrections for wind, angle of elevation, and other factors must be made in order that the shell will fall on the object. When the gun is being sighted on moving objects, certain other calculations must be made to obtain the proper position of the gun, but the position of the gun can be readily changed to conform to the necessary corrections in any case by the proper angular move- 6 ment of the sighting de'v'ice *becau'sefthe sightin'gjdevice may be nicSveH both verticallyiand horizontally-and thegfin will automatically follow any angul'ar po'sition er the sa'id s'ightiiigdevice.

'For convenience, onlyfoursets of arm's'oneach-oftwo commutatdrs are shown; This number may b" increased according to the circumference oftheebmmutater. The segment contacts around the outside, two ofi wlii'ch-are 60 and 64A, are so arranged that as the sighting device is moved, the magnetism is changed in only one magnet of a pair at a time in the same radial plane. That is, the points of contact are so arranged that only one arm on one segment on the gun has the pull changed at a time. As the sighting device is moved in the same direction, successive contacts are engaged by the respective brushes so that successive field magnets are magnetized, pulling the gun evenly and not by jerks between the magnets. The fineness and accuracy of the aim is doubled by the use of the second commutator and the second set of magnets on the gun because they can be so arranged as to split the magnetism.

For instance, if ten pairs of arms are used on each commutator, with pairs of segments to be contacted by the arms and if there are 10 magnets on each gun armature corresponding to the 10 pairs of arms on the commutator, with 80 field magnets influencing the 10 magnets, only one pair of arms of the commutator will contact the next set of segments at a time. The other nine sets of arms will remain in contact with the same set of segments and this will be true of the corresponding magnets and associated field magnets. This would move the gun only a very slight distance. As the sighting device moves in the same direction, successive pairs are magnetized until all ten are on the next set of segments. By the time this is done, the magnets on the armature on the gun would all pull to the next set of magnets in the field. At the time each connection is made, the distance moved by the gun armature would be only one tenth of the distance occupied by one set of segments of the magnets, which would be ,6 of of the circle in fineness. By adding another set, it would be /20 of /30 of the circle. Then by a gear of, say ten to one, the adjustment would be of the circle. By adding another unit similar to those drawn for both horizontal and vertical plane, the degree of fineness of the aim is increased to of the circumference of a circle. In fact, as may be seen, by adding in this manner, any degree of fineness in aim desired may be obtained.

I claim:

In an apparatus of the class described, a gun having trunnions, a mounting for the gun, including a rotatable carriage carrying said trunnions, a series of magnets arranged circumferentially of the trunnions at each side of the gun, a pair of magnetically operated arms secured to the trunnions at each side of the gun, said arms forming an armature having opposite poles, movable concentrically in association with the magnets, the position of the arms controlling the rocking movement of the gun in a vertical plane, a second series of circumferentially arranged magnets, supported in a fixed position below the carriage, a second pair of magnetically operated arms forming an armature having opposite poles positioned concentrically with respect to said second series of magnets and connected to the bottom of the carriage and influenced by the last-mentioned magnets for causing rotation of the carriage and the gun in a horizontal plane, means for causing energization of certain of the magnets of both series for causing the gun to be maintained in alinement with a moving target and including an electric circuit for each magnet, a switch for each circuit, said switches being arranged in a series similar to the arrangement of the magnets, a control means rockably mounted for movement in a vertical plane and rotatably mounted for movement in a horizontal plane, the control means being adapted to be maintained in alinement with the moving target, so that it will prescribe a path of movement for said gun, either vertically or horizontally or a combination of the vertical and horizontal movements and means connected to said control means for closing the switches for the circuits of the incorporated magnets in accordance with the movements of the control means so that the gun will be compelled tofollow automatically the movements of the control means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Granat Dec. 4, 1928 Oelke Dec. 17, 1929 Ford et a1 Aug. 30,1932 Davis Oct. 23, 1934 Davis May 20, 1947 

